Invincible
Korzeniowski sets 50km world best
Patrick F. Merle for the
IAAF
8 August 2002 – Munich, Germany - The public welcomed with enchantment the first
world best performance of these 18th European championships.
The spectators in the Munich stadium should have guessed something great would happen today, as one of the world’s all-time great athletes across all disciplines, Poland's Robert Kozeniowski was performing in the men’s 50km walk.
For the first time in two days, the sun was out and a strong contingent of Polish fans were seated, furiously waving their flags, and singing "the red and white are invincible" as early as 9 am. They expected their national hero Korzeniowski to win and he didn't disappoint them as he arrived in the stadium 3:36.39 hours later to set a new world best and championship record, as well as lowering his personal best by more than five minutes.
"I felt I could break this world record after 20 km in the race," he admitted afterwards. "I knew the pace was fast and it is then I decided to focus on this world record," said the second most famous sportsman in Poland behind the World Cup winning ski jumper Adam Malysz.
Once again, Robert Korzeniowski, the reigning Olympic, world and European champion lived up to and surpassed his usual standard in the 50 km race. The Polish champion, who for 10 years of his career has trained in the north of France shattered Valeriy Spitsyn's previous best of 3:37:26. The Russian athlete had established this world mark in Moscow on May 21st 2000.
At the Sydney Olympics, not only did Korzeniowski claim an unprecedented 20/50 km double but also became the first man to ever retain the 50km title. In Munich, he has now added another line to his unique record book, the only one that was really missing.
"I had a dream last night that some Russian walker was on his way to the world record and that I was catching up with him," he explained later.
At the end of the morning, it wasn't a dream anymore just a sweet reality.